Technology trends for the world of tomorrow

Penguins! Who doesn’t love penguins?

A month ago I resigned from IBM. On Monday I start my new job as CTO of Clause Inc., a legal-tech startup that is going to revolutionise the world by creating a platform for lawyers and developers to define, manage and operationalize true (legally enforceable) smart clauses and contracts. This new mission combines three of my longstanding passions: AI, blockchain (DLT) and rules. More on that later however!

It was never my intention to work for Big Blue (I started working for ILOG in 2003 and we were acquired in 2008) but I am very grateful for all the friends I made around the world: from my ILOG colleagues in France, to the teams in Littleton, Austin, Raleigh, Rochester, Ottawa, Boeblingen, Shanghai, researchers in labs in Israel, Zurich, New York, Tokyo, China and finally the wonderful people that work in the Hursley Lab, in the UK. I shan’t name you, but you know who you are. Thank you for teaching me so much, your patience, friendship, support and kindness. Let’s keep in touch!

My experience of IBMers has been almost uniformly positive. They are smart, principled people who have the ability to create billion dollar software empires encoded in their DNA! Delight the customer, innovate, solve really hard problems across materials science, hardware, software, services and magic happens!

Getting to meet with senior architects, managers, IBM Distinguished Engineers and Fellows has been an incredible and humbling experience. The criteria for promotion to these lofty heights are “Change an Industry” or even “Change the World”! Their depth of knowledge and historical perspective is unparalleled.

I wish all my former friends and colleagues well. I can’t wait to see what they create next. I shall be watching the ODM and Blockchain teams closely, but also the Research, IoT, AI, Analytics and Cloud teams.

8 thoughts on “Au Revoir IBM”

Dan, it was a short, but enjoyable ride… I am very pleased to have met such a talented colleague here at IBM and for your future, I wish you nothing but huge success and much happiness. (Hey, you’re doing what you love, how can you NOT succeed!)

Dan, It has been a privilege to think of you as a colleague, and to know you as a friend for so many years. Best wishes for your continued success, for your continued passion, and for happiness in everything that you do. -Steve